The Earthbound Ones
by DragonRaiderX9
Summary: They are travelers. They are warriors. They are heroes. But before that, they are just children.
1. Home

**It all started on that fateful night. A meteorite had just crashed into the Earth…**

_knock knock knock  
_

"Ugh," groaned Tracy, stumbling out of her room. "What an annoying knock. Ness, will you go see who that is?"

**My friend Pokey had been to see the meteorite, but seemed to have left his younger brother Picky there…**

"Ya gotta help me, Ness!" Pokey pleaded. "My parents will be back any time, and if we're not back I'm really gonna get it."

**When we got to the meteorite, however…**

"A bee I am…not," said the small bee-like thing that had flown out of the meteorite. "I am called Buzz Buzz. I come from ten years in the future, where all is devastation. Giygas, the Universal Cosmic Destroyer, has sent all to the horror of eternal darkness.

**It was then that I learned who I really am…**

"There is a prophecy," continued Buzz Buzz. "That proclaims that three boys and a girl shall defeat Giygas."

**Who we all really are…**

"And one of those boys…"

**We are the Chosen Four…**

"…Is you, Ness!"

**We are the earthbound ones.**

A breeze blew across Ness's face as his hometown of Onett faded behind the trees of the southern forest. He glanced back at it longingly. The past two days had been like something out of a dream. He had single-handedly defeated the Sharks, the local ruffians. Not only that, but he had accomplished the first goal on his mission: claiming the Giant Step as his own.

Ness sighed and reached into his backpack. He pulled out a small, blue stone and held it to his forehead. Concentrating on it, he heard nine notes of a melody resonate in his head. This was what he needed to remind himself that this was real. He had already done that three more times this morning.

In an unfortunate misunderstanding, Buzz Buzz had been swatted out of the air like a common housefly. And as Ness stepped into Downtown Onett, it was easy to pretend that the whole thing had been a bad dream. Forcing the Sharks to reform and making the police calm down had been a bit different. Sort of like a movie, where a local boy solves the threats facing the town and becomes a hero.

Ness looked at a distant hill that towered over the trees towards his unseen home. "_Home…"_ he thought. "_Isn't this the part of the movie where the hero goes home and lives happily ever after?_" Ness longed more than anything to return home and live a normal life with the added benefit of his peers' admiration. But there was one thing standing in his way.

He looked down at a healed bruise on his leg. It was a rapidly fading souvenir of his time with Buzz Buzz. A horrid robot, calling itself Starman Jr., had attacked them. Though mechanical, it sent a barrage of PSI to destroy him and his friends. Only Buzz Buzz's protective PSI had saved them. No matter how hard he tried, Ness would never be able to forget that. Whenever his will failed, an image of the Starman's expressionless face prompted him to action.

But that wasn't the only thing that motivated him. "_That dream…_". Only last night, his dreams had been pervaded by a surreal voice. A girl, calling him for assistance from a distant place. Most of him thought it was just a dream brought on by stress. But part of him knew that he could never ignore a plea for help, imagined or otherwise.

"Paula…" he said aloud, letting the name roll off his tongue. That was the name the girl had given herself. "I wonder if she's the girl who's supposed to join me? In any case, that's the only lead I have, so…"

Ness turned his back on Onett and began walking forward. His journey was a more or less silent one. He thought he saw a few mushrooms moving, but decided it was his imagination. In only a half an hour, he found himself standing on the outskirts of the city of Twoson.

"Well…" he began, hoping he sounded more confident than he felt. "Here goes nothing!"


	2. Imprisoned

In the distance, a waterfall was forcing its awesome wrath into the river below. The sound had been aggravating at first, but after three days of hearing it, Paula Polestar had learned to block it out.

The opposite side of the cabin in which she had been imprisoned had an open window. It had been awhile since she had seen the morning sun rise above it. "Almost noon," she muttered aloud. "Should be about feeding time."

As if on cue, the door creaked open and two figures walked inside. "Alright, girlie, lunch time. Blue blue," came the rough voice of one of her captors. Paula thought it was the one on the left, but with them wearing the same clothing, it was hard to tell.

The Happy Happiests. Insane cultists who believed that peace on earth could be achieved by painting the world blue. The followers dressed uniformly with blue suits and hoods.

"You've got a choice, you know," said the first Happy Happiest. "You don't have to be a sacrifice. Our leader, Carpainter, would gladly accept you as his priestess. Blue blue."

"That's alright," replied Paula, a calm smile adorning her face. "I'll just wait here to be rescued. It should happen anytime now."

"You really believe that, don' you? Blue blue." The cultist shook his head. "No one's coming. Even if they did, do you really think they could make it through Peaceful Rest Valley? That place is filled with all sorts of nasty stuff lately. Blue blue." He looked at Paula. "You sure? Blue blue."

Paula nodded, slowly but with conviction.

"Suit yourself. Blue blue," the cultist replied with a shrug. "He's your food. Blue blue." He tossed down two pieces of bread and a slice of cheese. "See you in the evening. Blue blue."

"Yeah," added the other cultist, speaking for the first time. "And you'll change your mind if you know what's good for you. Green green."

Paula winced as the second cultist was promptly smacked by the first. "Idiot! For the last time, it's _Blue blue_!"

"Sorry. Gr…blue blue," he hastily amended, rubbing his head.

And with that, the two cultists left Paula to her solitude. Paula sat there for several minutes, ensuring that the cultists were really gone. She picked up her food and made a basic sandwich. She then closed her eyes and concentrated. After a few seconds, she felt heat overtake her hand; slight but noticeable. She opened her eyes and took a bite out of her now toasted sandwich.

"It's lucky for you guys that I happen to like grilled cheese sandwiches," Paula said to no one in particular. "Or else I might not have the patience to wait for Ness." She stopped eating and looked at the bit of sky she could see out the window. "Lucky for me, too, I suppose. I'm not sure my powers could get me past these bars. Carpainter seems to have done something that repels PSI. And setting fire to the cabin is definitely out of the question." She allowed a small sigh to escape her lips. "Even if I could get out of here, there's no way I could fight my way past all the cultists."

Shrugging off these unpleasant thoughts, she returned to her meal in silence. But to her surprise, daylight flashed over her as the door to the cabin was thrust open. She hastily hid her sandwich behind her, but the person at the entrance was not a cultist. It was a teenage boy with a red baseball cap.

"Paula?" he asked.

"Ness!" she cried as she leapt to the bars. "You finally came!"

Ness smiled and flashed a peace sign. "Sorry I took so long. UFOs held me up."

"I knew you would come to save me," said Paula softly. "I had a dream that a boy named Ness would be my destiny."

Ness flinched as his smile faded. "You wanna rephrase that?" he asked tentatively. "It kinda sounded like you were hitting on me."

This time it was Paula's smile that faded as her cheeks turned a faint red. "What? No!" Her surprise swiftly turned to irritation. "I swear, is that all you boys have on your mind"

"Come on," pleaded Ness. "You have to admit that's what it sounded like."

"Oh, just take this." Paula looked to the side and thrust her hand forward. Resting on her palm was a small badge with a lightening bolt on it. "It will repel Carpainter's lightening."

"Yeah, right," Ness replied clumsily. "I'll see you in just a bit."

Paula remained silent as Ness walked out the door. She thought about the encounter for a moment. Then, without warning, she buried her face in her hands. "Oh my gosh," she muttered. "It really did sound like I was hitting on him. Now I have to apologize or else he'll think I'm a bi…a bi…" Paula struggled to say a word that she was conditioned never to say. After an agonizing moment, she yielded. "Ooooh…a not nice lady."

Paula crossed her arms and fumed, frustrated over her inability to say a simple word, as well as her not-so-smooth meeting with Ness.


	3. Journey

It all started on that fateful night

_Aaaah-chooooo!_

"It figures, it really does," came the slightly nasally voice of Jeff Andonuts. "Of all the trees in the world, I had to be allergic to pine." He sneezed again, recoiling slightly. "And where was I born? Winters! Land of Christmas Trees. Thanks a lot, Murphy."

Jeff looked out over the lake, unfrozen despite the frigid cold. By the edge of the lake sat his ally, the Bubble Monkey, who was getting a quick drink. "Why am I doing this? Tony's right, I must be delirious or something. Here I am, in the middle of nowhere to help some girl that might just be a figment of my imagination." Jeff turned to glare at an object. "And why…the…hell…is…there…a…giant…iron…pencil…statue here!" He punctuated each word by kicking the statue in question. It was blocking the only safe route down the cliff that Jeff was currently standing on top of.

Jeff sighed. " I'm too much of a nice guy for my own good. This won't end well, but I'm not stopping. There's absolutely no logic to this, but I'm not stopping!"

Jeff glanced at the pencil statue again, and gave it another swift kick. Ignoring the throbbing pain in his foot, Jeff proceeded into the nearby cave, which he hoped connected to another cave he saw at the bottom of the cliff, the Bubble Monkey following close behind.

After passing through a downward sloping tunnel, Jeff found himself in a large cavern. It was level, but rocks outlined paths like a maze. "Beautiful…just beautiful." Jeff navigated his way through the simple maze. A few ducks and what appeared to be protoplasm got in his way, but a few shots of his pop gun caused them to rethink their position. Before leaving the maze, however, Jeff found a stun gun to replace his current weapon.

Their was another downward sloping tunnel that brought Jeff and the Bubble Monkey out to the bottom of the cliff, where a strange man was waiting for them. He had a round head, with only a few hairs on top. A small mustache rested on top of a mouth accustomed to smiling. "How's it going, friend?" inquired the man cordially. "I hope you enjoyed my dungeon!"

"Was it you?" Jeff mumbled.

The man was taken aback by this abrupt questioning. "Pardon?"

"The pencil statue," Jeff explained in an increasingly accusing voice. "Did you make the pencil statue?"

"Oh, that," the man said comprehendingly. "No, that's been there since before I got there. Can't say I'm mad about it, though. More people get to enjoy my dungeon that way. The name's Brickroad. How about you?"

"…Jeff. Jeff Andonuts."

"Andonuts, huh?" Brickroad put his hand to his chin in thought. "There's a guy to the south by that name. You a relative of his?"

"Maybe," replied Jeff in a distinctly bitter tone.

If Brickroad noticed Jeff's discomfort, he chose to ignore it. "Yeah, Dr. Andonuts is going to work with me and help me become the first human-dungeon hybrid: Dungeon Man."

Jeff raised an eyebrow. "Fascinating…listen, do you know how to get south from here?"

"South, huh?" repeated Brickroad. "Where exactly are you heading?"

"Threed."

Brickroad let out a whistle. "Well gosh darn, son. What's a kid like you doing going so far away from home?"

Jeff sighed. "I dreamed that a girl called for help from a cage somewhere in Threed. So here I am."

Brickroad let out a mighty guffaw. "Listen, kid, if you didn't want me to know, all you had to do was say so. But if you're really heading to Threed, you should check in with Dr. Andonuts. He might be able to help you with one of his vehicles. Just head through the cave further south and you'll be there."

Jeff thanked Brickroad and made his way to the south. Before too long, he reached the cave entrance. Jeff stared into the cave for a long time. Then, without warning, he threw his head back and shouted, "Damn you, Murphy!"

The cave itself gave few problems to Jeff. His new stun gun quickly dispatched the mice, the ants, and…strange though it might sound, walking mushrooms. But before long, he reached a dead end. There was a rope on the cliff above him, but it was coiled up and unreachable. Jeff opened his mouth to complain, but stopped when he heard an odd blowing noise from directly behind him.

Looking back, he saw that the Bubble Monkey had popped a piece of bubble gum in his mouth and had started blowing. He blew and he blew until the bubble was nearly the same size as the monkey. Then, inexplicably, he started to lift up off the ground. Jeff stood motionless, watching the Bubble Monkey raise up to the cliff above. As he floated above the cliff, the Bubble Monkey gave a sharp blow, popping the bubble. He then proceeded to drop the rope down to where Jeff stood.

Jeff shook his head. "If you weren't so useful, I'd kill you for violating the laws of physics. As it stands…" Jeff grabbed the rope and started climbing.

As he reached the top of the cliff, he noticed something odd off to the right. A bright light, obscuring a shadowy figure. Curiosity getting the better of him, Jeff went to investigate. As he approached, however, the figure spoke in a low, piercing voice. "Only Ness may come to this place."

"NES?" asked Jeff, puzzled. "Sorry, I left my NES back at the school. Mind you, I haven't used it too much since I got the Super two years ago…"

"Ness!" the figure cried. "Only the one named Ness may absorb the power of this place. If you are not he, then leave this place."

Part of Jeff wanted to argue, as he hated being told he couldn't do something. On the other hand, something about this figure made him hesitant to badger it. He turned around and walked through the cave exit on the nearby wall.

Jeff squinted as the sunlight washed over him. He was standing right by Stonehenge, one of the most famous spots in northern Eagleland. And standing by Stonehenge was another monkey, apparently female, judging by the ribbon on her head. "Ukiki uki!" cried the Bubble Monkey. Without waiting for Jeff's reaction, the Bubble Monkey ran to the female monkey, who promptly started to run away, leading the Bubble Monkey into a chase. "Kiki Uki!" the Bubble Monkey shouted. Jeff wasn't sure, but he would have sworn the Bubble Monkey said "I love it when they play hard to get!"

Smiling to himself, Jeff made his way past Stonehenge until he spotted a large green building. The lab of the famous Dr. Andonuts. Jeff took a deep breath, and walked through the door.

He walked into a large, immaculate room. There were many strange inventions, but Jeff ignored them and walked right up to the man in the center of the room. "Hello, Dr. Andonuts."

Dr. Andonuts jumped slightly, then turned around. "I'm sorry, you are?" Jeff said nothing as the doctor squinted, looking him over. "Wait, are you…could you possibly be Jeff?" Jeff nodded curtly. "By George, it is! It's been ages since we last saw each other. How long has it been? Three years, four years?"

"Ten years," Jeff answered coldly.

"Oh, why, so it has. What brings you home, son?" Jeff explained the situation as briefly as possible. When he finished, Dr Andonuts looked thoughtful. "Well, then. Sounds like you're in for a ringer, aren't you. If what you say is true, then there's not a moment to lose. Take the Sky Runner." He pointed to a UFO-shaped object next to the side wall. "It has the ability to home in on psychic energies."

Jeff nodded stiffly. "Thank you, Dr. Andonuts." He turned to walk towards the Sky Runner when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you going to be alright?" asked Dr. Andonuts.

Jeff roughly shrugged the hand off his shoulder. "I'll be fine. It's not like I'm going to fight zombies or something."

"Yes, well, be careful…son."

"I will…Dr. Andonuts." Without another word, Jeff boarded the Sky Runner. In another moment, he took off through the opening in the ceiling.

Dr. Andonuts watched the Sky Runner disappear. "Traveling half-way across the country to help people he's never met. Jeff's become a fine young man." He hung his head in shame. "What have I done?"

-

"So, when do you think he'll be here?" Ness asked.

"For the last time, I don't know!" replied Paula irritably. After two days in this desolate chamber, their nerves had been stretched a bit thin.

"So you can send a message to the guy, but you don't know where he is?" Ness commented smugly.

"It's not that simple, Ness! I have to…" Paula paused. "Wait a sec. Do you hear something?"

Ness strained his ears. "Yeah, sound like a whirring noise, coming from…" His eyes widened as the noise suddenly grew louder. "Paula, get back!"

The two quickly pressed themselves against the wall as a loud crash sounded from above. Half a second later, a round, grey object fell from the ceiling and crumbled into the floor. Ness and Paula approached it hesitantly, and then they noticed something. In the wreckage of the ship was the body of a young man. He twitched and coughed as he raised his blackened face.

"Landings…gotta work on that." Coughing some more, the boy climbed to his feet. "I'm Jeff. I'm guessing you're Paula, and…" he paused as his eyes rested on Ness. "Who are you again?"

"He's Ness," explained Paula. "He's leading this mission. I told you about him in my message, remember?"

Jeff looked thoughtful. "Oh yeah. Guess I forgot. So what's the problem?"

Ness pointed with his thumb to the door behind him. "That door back there is locked. And we can't seem to break it down, either. Got anything that would help?"

"Locked door?" repeated Jeff. "No problem."

"Awesome!" Ness practically screamed with excitement. "Then the three of us can be on our way."

"Hold it!" Jeff exclaimed, dampening Ness's good mood. "I want to ask you a question. Now, no matter what you say, I'm still going to open the door. But I have to know…"

"Alright," Ness replied somberly, while Paula looked on.

Jeff looked off to the side for a moment, then stared Ness straight in the face. "I'm not that strong, I'm a bit of a nerd, I tend to be reckless and I'm not really a people person." Jeff walked up to Ness and poked his finger directly into Ness's chest. "Do you really want someone like that tagging along with you?"

Ness looked down at Jeff's finger, then into Jeff's face. He shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

Jeff dropped his hand. "Alright, then. Let's go." He walked over to the door and opened it with his Bad Key Machine, a device that would open any locked door. He led the way out, with Ness following close behind.

Paula stood there for a moment, watching her companions walk ahead of her. Then she shook her head roughly, muttered "Boys…" and followed Ness out the door.


	4. Training

It all started on that fateful night

The world was a place of balance. The energy from one being passed from one to another and back into the Earth itself. The natural flow was a beautiful thing to behold. But…today, something was off. Something there, that wasn't supposed to be. Something beyond comprehension, and…

"Aaaaaaah!" cried young Poo, prince of Dalaam, as he clutched his head with his hands, hoping to alleviate the pain.

"Do you see now, young one?" inquired Pui, master of Mu: the art of nothingness, and Poo's teacher. "That unnatural blight upon the world is what you must someday destroy. It calls itself Giygas."

Poo gradually regained his composure, and returned to his meditative pose. "Master, how can I possibly hope to head such a being?"

"_Face_ such a being," corrected Master Pui. He had begun teaching Poo the English language two years ago, requiring that Poo use it whenever they were training. Poo had come far, but still stumbled over certain expressions. "And the answer lies in your companions. When the time is right, you will join with them and set out to defeat Giygas. Now, let us meditate."

Poo still had questions to ask, but he stilled his tongue and joined his master. Meditation was important to most forms of martial arts, but was especially important to Mu training. By clearing their minds of thoughts, they could better focus at the task at hand. But today, Poo was having a much more difficult time than usual. "_Who are these people that I will join? Where do they hail from? What training shall have they undertaken? Can our combined strength stand against…_?"

"Poo!" exclaimed Master Pui, startling the young prince. "Do I need to remind you of the importance of proper meditation?"

"No, Master," Poo replied, abashed.

"Good, now let us try again."

The questions remained, but Poo called upon his training to banish the thoughts from his mind, concentrating only on the nothingness in his mind. They stayed like this for ten minutes, though Poo felt it had been much longer than that.

When they finished, Poo began to stand, but Master Pui motioned for him to return to his seat. "Your mind is troubled, young one. Tell me, what is it that bothers you so?"

"These companions that I must join with," began Poo. "What are they like?"

"There are three of them," answered Master Pui. "Two of them know PSI, like yourself, though they have had no formal training."

"No training?" asked Poo. "It took me years to fully understand my own PSI. How can they hope to fight in such a way?"

"Do not begrudge them the circumstances of their lives," admonished Master Pui. "Remember, you are lucky to have been born in a place where your powers are understood. These two were raised not knowing what their powers really were. For years, they possessed only the most basic aspects of their powers. But they have already begun their journey, and the battles they partake in have expanded their powers at an incredible rate."

Poo's eyes widened. "They have already begun their journey? Then why am I here? I must join them!"

"No, young one." Master Pui motioned for him calm himself. "While they have indeed started their quest, they are still a ways from the true threats to the Earth. They have already developed powers that can match, and even surpass your own. If you were to join now, you would only increase the group's power by a relatively small amount. In the later battles, you may even be a liability. You must complete your Mu training; only then can you hope to benefit the world."

Poo forced himself into respectful composure. "Then I shall train with all my strength, day and night if need be, until I complete my training!"

"Your dedication to this end is most commendable," said Master Pui. "But do not forget, young one: when one eye is trained upon your goal, then only one eye is left with which to find the way. Concentrate on your training, and not its completion."

"Yes, Master."

"Now, to finish answering your question," continued Master Pui. "The third member of this team is a very intelligent boy, though he possesses no PSI."

"No PSI!?" Poo nearly shouted. "Then of what use will he be to…"

"That is enough, Prince Poo," said Master Pui sternly. "Do not think that your powers makes you any better than those around you. Of the four of you, he has the strongest mind. Do not let the accident that is your PSI allow you to forget that." Master Pui's face softened. "This boy has a mastery over machines. He can build and utilize devices that you or I could not even fathom the use of."

Poo was silent for several minutes. When he spoke, he spoke softly, "I see I have a long way to go with my training. If it is acceptable to you, Master, I would like to begin right away."

Master Pui nodded. "Of course, let us begin."


End file.
